Rajiv Kumar is new Chief Election Commissioner; will oversee next LS polls
New Delhi, May 12: Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar was on Thursday appointed as the next chief election commissioner and will oversee the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, besides various assembly polls.
He will assume charge on May 15 after incumbent Sushil Chandra demits office on May 14, a notification issued by the law ministry said.
Uploading the notification and a press note on his Twitter handle, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju extended his best wishes to Kumar.
"In pursuance of clause (2) of article 324 of the Constitution, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner with effect from the 15th May, 2022," read the notification.
Once Chandra demits office, there will be a vacancy in the poll panel.
Born on February 19, 1960, Kumar will demit office in February 2025 when he attains the age of 65.
According to the law governing the election commissioners, an EC or a CEC can hold the office for six years or till he or she attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
Besides the President and the Vice President elections due shortly, the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and several assembly polls will be held under his watch.
The states include Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.
Kumar was the chairperson of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) when he was appointed an election commissioner.
He took charge as an election commissioner on September 1, 2020, after a vacancy was created following the resignation of then election commissioner Ashok Lavasa.
A 1984-batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Bihar/Jharkhand cadre, Kumar superannuated from service in February 2020.
In pursuance of clause (2) of article 324 of the Constitution, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Rajiv Kumar as the Chief Election Commissioner with effect from the 15th May, 2022.
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) May 12, 2022
My best wishes to Shri Rajiv Kumar pic.twitter.com/QnFLRLiVPm
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
